‘Twin Peaks’: Deciphering the mystery of Laura Palmer, David Lynch’s enigmatic protagonist
Since first premiering 35 years ago, David Lynch and Mark Frost’s television series Twin Peaks has garnered a cult following like no other, noted for its blend of intense mystery, drama and tragedy, bizarre humour, and oddball characters.
The initial two-season run was accompanied by the book The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer before Lynch’s feature-length prequel, Fire Walk with Me, was released in 1992. After a lengthy absence, Twin Peaks: The Return began airing a quarter of a century later, bringing many original characters back to the screen, cementing its legacy as one of Lynch’s greatest projects.
At the heart of Twin Peaks is Laura Palmer, played excellently by Sheryl Lee, the mysterious yet gorgeous homecoming queen who is only alive in memory. Her cold, blue corpse is found wrapped in plastic during the pilot episode, retaining a sense of effortless beauty as she lies deceased and discarded.
From the moment her body is discovered, the small town of Twin Peaks begins to unravel, with the inhabitants’ darkest secrets bubbling to the surface. In the second series, we learn that Laura’s father, Leland, possessed by the malevolent entity known as Bob, was responsible for continually sexually abusing and eventually murdering her. It’s a tragic revelation that aligns with one of Lynch’s favourite themes: deconstructing the American Dream.
In Blue Velvet, Lynch’s 1986 film, images of white picket fences and red roses are undercut with crawling ants and a severed ear, and in Mulholland Drive, the dark truth behind Hollywood’s glamorous appeal is exposed. Twin Peaks is no exception to the filmmaker’s cinematic tirade against the futility of the American Dream. Nothing is ever as good as it seems in his celluloid world, where characters engage in violent acts of cruelty and dreams are quickly shattered.
The quaint, picturesque town of Twin Peaks, where retro diners serve cherry pie and schoolgirls walk around in neat plaid skirts and roll-neck jumpers, hides a multitude of sins, which Lynch uncovers through a number of convoluted storylines. Underneath the perfect-looking facade, incest, abuse, adultery, and morally corrupt businessmen find a home. Laura Palmer’s story represents the inherent evil that lurks within our communities, and the tragedy of male violence, of which she is a constant target.
Laura is a courageous character who does her best to present a semblance of normality to the outside world, despite the abuse she faces at home, ultimately becoming dependent on drugs and alcohol to cope with the crushing weight of her trauma. The same goes for her sex work, an attempt to gain control over her body, which her father repeatedly violates. Although she’s only granted flashbacks in the series, her ghostliness lingers, making her an integral, ever-present figure in the Twin Peaks mythology.
Understandably, critics have called out Lynch’s depiction of femininity in Twin Peaks, critiquing his reliance on strict gender roles and Laura’s lack of autonomy by making her a perpetual victim. Yet, it’s clear that he uses these binary conventions for good reason. The director recognises the absurdity of social norms, such as women acting a certain way and men another, and the harrowing nature of male-incited violence, an inherent quality to many of the men in the story. Blending surreal humour, offbeat characters and narrative techniques, Lynch ensures that nothing depicted in the show should be seen as normal.
However, in Fire Walk With Me, Lynch gives Laura the autonomy she rightly deserves, reviving her from the dead by centring her in a prequel. The film is one of Lynch’s greatest and most heartbreaking achievements, charting the character’s final days before she is tragically killed.
It’s obvious that he loves Laura as a character, seeing her as a figure of bravery, even if the powers above her ultimately consume her, as is the fate of many women in real life. Fire Walk With Me exposes the vile nature of evil that manifests in everyday life, particularly the kind that is enacted against women.
For Laura, the world is cruel, and she meets her early demise after suffering much more than the average person suffers in a lifetime. Lynch gives Laura justice in the form of Fire Walk With Me, even if the movie ends in her tragic death. Still, he allows Lee to portray Laura’s multitudinous nature – her anger and pain and her love and kindness, painting a tragic picture of abuse and trauma that spoke to many viewers and continues to do so.
The memory of Laura infused Lynch’s following works, such as Lost Highway, Mulholland Drive and Inland Empire. These films centre around troubled women who are imbued with Laura’s fiery spirit and strength. And, of course, Laura returns in the 2017 revival of Twin Peaks, proving that he’ll never let the legacy of his beloved character die out.
All episodes of Twin Peaks launch on MUBI on 13 June in the US, UK, Latin America, Germany, Turkey, Italy, Netherlands and India.
